The Scarlet Letter is an example of Romanticism because it focuses on emotions and nature, and it also explores the individual.
In Puritan New England in the 1600s, Hester Prynne is accused of adultery and must wear a scarlet “A” on her clothing as punishment. She has a daughter named Pearl who has been born out of wedlock. Throughout the novel, we see Hester struggle with guilt over her actions and seek redemption through religious faith, but she also finds love with another man named Dimmesdale who also turns out to be her husband’s former lover.
The novel often uses symbols to represent these themes: The scarlet letter itself represents sin; Pearl represents innocence; the forest represents nature; Dimmesdale represents redemption; and Hawthorne often uses allegory to explore these themes.
Hawthorne’s writing style is highly descriptive and often uses allegory as well. His writing style helped make this novel controversial at the time of its publication because it was one of the first novels to deal with such topics in a literary way—and one of the first American novels ever written!
